Tehama County to seek grant for Vista Way shelter, Skyview water system

Share this:

Ken Robison speaks Tuesday to the Tehama County Board of Supervisors about the proposed Vista Way location for a homeless shelter and one-stop resource center at a public hearing.
(Julie Zeeb — Daily News)

RED BLUFF — Following a lengthy discussion with a packed audience in attendance to give comment, the Tehama County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to seek Community Development Block Grant Funding for the proposed Vista Way homeless shelter and the Skyview Water District system.

The county is seeking a $2.6 million grant to turn a 10,000-square-foot county-owned Vista Way facility into a homeless shelter and one-stop resource center.

Part of that application includes a secondary planning grant for $100,000 that would go to the Skyview Water District at Ponderosa Sky Ranch. The water district grant was not eligible as a stand alone application.

Board Chairman Steve Chamblin asked Chief Administrator Bill Goodwin to bring the item before the board again if the grant application is successful, so the board could consider new items brought to the county’s attention.

Supervisor Candy Carlson asked what would happen if the facility reached capacity and whether there was a limit to the length of stay.

Health Services Agency Executive Director Val Lucero said that would depend on the needs of the individual. The goal is to use case management and rapid re-housing programs with PATH and Empower Tehama to ensure shelter housing is temporary. Proponents hope to keep the occupancy close to that of PATH’s winter shelter, about 50.

Carlson said there is no good location, but there is a need to help those that want the help. She cautioned, as did several who work with the homeless population, not to lump all homeless people together as criminals based on the actions of a few.

Lucero said the homeless stakeholders committee, which has been working on the project since 2017, hopes to engage a private, non-profit that has experience with the population.

Empower Tehama is the fiscal agency of the grant and the county will be the lease agreement holder, so the agency will have to be one both groups have confidence in, Lucero said.

Supervisor Bob Williams said many he spoke with from other counties said a shelter facility, done correctly, works.

The security of businesses and residents in the area was a concern of several business owners, including at least two reporting multiple break-ins in the area. Proximity to the airport, lack of sidewalks and contact with children were listed as concerns.

The county has plans to bus shelter residents in as a way to limit interaction with children at Vista Preparatory Academy, Salisbury High School and Metteer Elementary School.

Several attendees spoke in favor of the shelter, including Colleen Lewis who has worked with the homeless population. She said the shelter would give help to those who want it and give law enforcement a way to deal with those who don’t.

“I’ve worked for 28 years in service to Tehama County as a 911 operator and worked with PATH and it’s been a known problem for 20 years,” said Joyce Jackson. “We have within our fingertips not a perfect solution, but an opportunity to mitigate a problem. I beseech you to take this opportunity to put a dent in the homeless population and give the opportunity to those who can to get back into society.”

Pastor Scott Camp said he has worked with a number of homeless and those at risk. While he knows the concerns are legitimate he also knows there is no good location for a shelter. It is a problem, currently without solution, but one is needed.

Julie Zeeb is a North State native and covers the county and education beats for the Red Bluff Daily News. She has been with the Daily News since she started freelancing for the paper in July 2007 and lived in Tehama County since 2009.